Book Description
With just forty-one recordings to his credit, Robert Johnson (1911-38) is a giant in the history of blues music. Johnson's vast influence on twentieth-century American music, combined with his mysterious death at the age of twenty-seven, has allowed speculation and myths to obscure the facts of his life. The most famous of these legends depicts a young Johnson meeting the Devil at a dusty Mississippi crossroads at midnight and selling his soul in exchange for prodigious guitar skills.

In this volume, Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch examine the full range of writings about Johnson and sift fact from fiction. They compare conflicting accounts of Johnson's life, weighing them against interviews with blues musicians and others who knew the man. Through their extensive research Pearson and McCulloch uncover a life every bit as compelling as the fabrications and exaggerations that have sprung up around it. In examining Johnson's life and music, and the ways in which both have been reinvented and interpreted by other artists, critics, and fans, Robert Johnson: Lost and Found charts the broader cultural forces that have mediated the expression of African American artistic traditions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Finding the Real Deal
Pearson and McCulloch demythologize the stories about Robert Johnson in this well researched and fascinating study.The authors convincingly demonstrate that the story of Johnson's Faustian pact never appeared in print until decades after Johnson's death.They further debunk the legend by showing that even most of those who were closely associated with him also viewed the story with either a wry skepticism or total disdain.Although it's fun to talk about the legends that have been associated with this blues man, Pearson and McCulloch also argue that a gullible acceptance of the stories prevents blues fans from truly understanding the man and his music.I came away from reading this book with a better understanding of his life and a far greater appreciation for Johnson's abilities.In this respect, the book provides an excellent resource for learning to listen to blues music by clearing away the highly exoticized and even patronizing presuppositions that we may bring to the art form.In this fine study, a fine folklorist and journalist partner up to give us the real deal of Johnson.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please meet the real Robert Johnson
Do not be scared off by the naysayers and one star reviews.I can understand that people who worship at the altar of myth are dismayed by this strong factual account.This is a highly professional publication that is strictly based of veritable facts and not rumours and hearsay, even when said heresay could be the truth.Every single essay, story, blurb you ever read about Robert Johnson mentions his mythical pact with the devil.While it's fine to have romantic notions about an artist it is ridiculous, especially, in this case, to focus so exclusively on the myth when the facts are just as intruiging.That is what the authors are out to instill in our minds here.And yes they are occasionally repetitive but this is understandable when they are up against a half century's worth of material contending otherwise.The fact is that Robert Johnson was an amazing and talented musician who worked very, very hard to perfect his craft.This book asks the question "Why can he not be recognized for this fact?"Why is his prowess only explicable by referring to an ancient myth that he himself likely did not promote.The legends and myths are OK but they should not be the sole focus of conversation regarding this incredible artist.Read this book and you will come away with a new appreciation for this artist.I have been listening to Mr Johnson's recordings for over 20 years and that is the effect it had on me.

Dismaying and dreary.
The writers of this book would have you believe that not only is it idiotic to have any sort of mythology surround an artist, but they also want us to ignore many of the real life experiences that Robert Johnson most likely faced. If they had just wanted to focus on the "real" story and downplay the urban legend style that Robert Johnson's life is usually told as, all they would have had to do was...focus on it. Instead, they not only pooh-pooh the myths, they disregard the entire lifestyle of African Americans in the early part of the 20th century. We are to believe that Johnson played with lots of people, but none of the people we have ever been told of. No one is telling the truth about anything regarding Johnson, except the authors themselves. They insist that Robert Johnson himself did not have fears for his soul, in spite of a slew of songs pertaining to the subject. They seem unaware that this theme had a basis in the African American community of true belief, and still does to this day in many areas. Apparantly, they have never heard the term "write what you know"(either for writing songs, or this book). It would appear mostly that a lack of people who actually wanted to discuss the subject with the authors may have contributed to the authors' explaining over and over the insignificance of the themes in Johnson's work. They seem to distrust absolutely everyone who ever had any story to tell about Johnson, so it would be no wonder. Whether you believe that Robert Johnson ever went down to the crossroads, or the Louisana swamps, or any other part of that story, the fact remains that his voice and playing is haunting and haunted. The authors speak as if they have some deep inner ability to see into Johnson's mind and soul, and found it somehow lacking and not at all as the story goes. In the end, I just felt sorry for them, because it appears that they do not have the hair-raising, spine tingling thrill when they listen to his music that most people do when they hear it. This music was not intended to be listened to by an impartial, unaffected, disinterested audience. Maybe it is just the authors showing a touch of sour grapes at missing out on the larger experience. Over all an arrogant, mind dulling, disappointing dry telling of an otherwise exciting topic. Want a more interesting, less blabby version that gets down to the facts and preserves some of the myth? Read Peter Guralnick's Searching For Robert Johnson instead. Read Robert Johnson Lost and Found only if you do not care one bit about Robert Johnson, his music or his life, and don't care if it is narrated with as much enthusiasm as a Mutual Of Omaha Wild Kingdom program about snails.

Casting out Satan!
This book does a wonderful job of looking at the man whose dark mythology often supercedes his deep music. Yes, some who want to believe in his devil might get a little ruffled by the actual journalism here but I'm, for one, just as interested in the reality as I am in the legend. I find the true story of the tales woven around him captivating and curious. A critic on this list said that one could have researched everything in this book and to that I say, "huh?" Any accurate history revisits the facts and the faces, hopefully gaining new insight and accounts. This book does both and is a great read to boot.

Lost the plot.
A truly terrible book, that treats the reader like a moron.
The blindingly obvious is explained over & over,& then again
in case you still don't get it.The entire premise of this book could have been distilled in two pages.
Don't bother ,play the music. ... Read more

Book Description
In this classic crack-up of a book, Dave Barry gives his wacky perspective on sex, childbirth, parenting and other forms of slow, cruel torture.In Babies and Other Hazards of Sex, Dave exposes natural childbirth for what it is:a pop phenomenon of the 1960s that, along with paisley bell-bottoms and creative sideburns, deserves a rest. He examines the new federal law requiring prospective fathers to free themselves from their self-made macho prisons--to laugh, cry, love and just generally behave like certified wimps.Dave also reveals, for the first time in print, the secret chant for painless childbirth.Then learn why no secret chant could possibly take a woman's mind off the fact that she is in such pain that she wants a gigantic comet to crash into the earth and kill her and her husband and the dotor and the nurses and everyone else in the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: review
This book should be the bible for those considering having kids. I bought more copies of this for gifts then I can count. It's too funny and I highly recommend it.

One of Dave Barry's best laughs
Purchased as a gift for a close friend shortly after they found out they were expecting, because I purchased this 5 years ago when our son and his wife were expecting and living a great distance away. Both men found this book a laugh a minute. Dave Barry at his best.

Warning - Do not read in last trimester!
This book is very funny, weirdly prophetic and difficult to read if you've got 8lbs of baby pressing down on your bladder!

THE ONLY BOOK YOU WILL NEED......
I have always been a fan of Dave Barry.
When my baby's mama got pregnant I spent the better part of three months in a drunken haze. "WHAT WILL I DO?!" I constantly asked my friends. None of them knew. I had just barely turned twenty one and none of my friends wereor ever had been in the same boat.
Truth of the matter is, nobody can tell you what to do in this circumstance. The object is to go with the flow, from the time that chick of yours gets pregnant to ... forever.
I was THRILLED when I found this book, and it did not dissapoint. Without it I mayhave lost my mind and killed that chick with a hatchet.
Very funny, and it will make you forget that you are in HELL! Must have for suprised "expectants."

Not worth the money
Just not funny, I returned the book and got my money back. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Finance & Development, published by International Monetary Fund on December 1, 1998. The length of the article is 3204 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Capital account liberalization continues to be a better alternative to capital controls for many developing countries. Although the Asian financial crisis has reawakened fears associated with this strategy, capital account liberalization remains an attractive option because capital inflows can improve a country's balance of payments, ease temporary disturbances to income and consumption, reduce borrowing costs and bolster economic growth. To maximize the benefits of capital account liberalization while minimizing the risks, pace and sequencing have been carefully considered. There are three approaches to sequencing and their benefits, costs and risks vary from country to country. The first approach advocates capital account liberalization at the latter part of a country's economic program, the second favors early liberalization while the third advocates the integration of liberalization into a concurrent and comprehensive approach to reform.

Citation Details
Title: Sequencing capital account liberalization.
Author: R. Barry Johnson
Publication: Finance & Development (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 1998
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Volume: 35Issue: 4Page: 20(4)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a tremendous tool for those who need to be able to demonstrate growth and improvement in their students or clients. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A novel about an Anglo-Indian's search for her identity.
Victoria Jones is a 28-year old Anglo-Indian (mixed Indian and European blood) living in Bhowani in the turbulent months leading to Indianindependence.This novel explores her search for where she will belong inthe "new" India- she does her searching through her liaisons witha fellow Anglo-Indian, an Indian (Sikh) and a British officer.It is avery good book, especially reading it from a historical/feministperspective.It falls well will other novels of the British Raj - whereAnglo-Indian women are depicted as sexual objects.The movie version ofthe book starring Ava Gardner does it justice, but it is always better toread the book instead! ... Read more

Book Description
Aimed at the specific content of an upper-level elective health law course, this law school casebook blends recent case law, statutory developments, and problems to maximize the flexibility of materials for teachers of health law. The notes are rich in detail and citations, allowing the teacher to spend more time on topics of particular interest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

DO NOT USE THIS TEXT TO TEACH ANYTHING!
This is the most poorly written legal text I have ever read.If you are a student, don't buy this book and purchase a supplement on med mal tort instead. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Chances are probably infinitesimal that you are currently the head of a major corporation. But you can dramatically increase the probability that you will end up where you belong in the corporate hierarchy by following choice bits of wisdom such as the following:

"Remember: your subordinates are not machines. They are human beings with the same dreams as you. OK, maybe not all the same dreams. Probably they don't have the one where you're naked in a vat of Yoo-Hoo with the Soviet gymnastics team."

If you're looking at one of the cassette editions of this title, note that you can absorb all this wisdom while listening to it in your car or Walkman in the course of one commute to work (estimated time: approx. 3 hrs., unless you're already a CEO with a Lear Jet).Book Description
Working up the corporate ladder is all well and good for most people, but you are not "most people." You are a highly motivated individual who wants to be on the fast track, and you cannot afford to fritter away valuable time working diligently and competently on the job. You need Dave Barry's surefire tips in Claw Your Way to the Top!* "A good resume is more than just a piece of paper. It can mean the difference between not getting a job and not even coming close."* "Can you get a job in business? Heck yes! Don't you listen to those Negative Nellies who tell you there aren't any good jobs anymore, just because the steel, automobile, shoe, clothing, railroad, and agricultural industries have all collapsed!"* "I don't mean to suggest for a moment that all it takes to be a top executive is a custom-tailored European suit. You also need the correct shirt and tie."* "Remember, your subordinates are not machines. They are human beings with the same dreams as you. OK, maybe not all the same dreams. Probably they don't have the one where you're naked in a vat of Yoo-Hoo with the Soviet gymnastics team."* "Ask any business school professor, and he'll tell you a good memo is clear, concise, and well-organized. Now ask him what his annual salary is. It's probably less than most top executives spend in a month on shoe maintenance." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

A review of the audiobook
Arte Johnson does a great job as narrator with Dave Barry's offbeat sense of humor. Dave Barry can be read in so many ways, most of them wrong. Arte Johnson does a strong job with this text.

Dave Barry's humorous look at the world of business is strong throughout, but occassionally dated, especially when he talks about computers. Dave Barry could easily update this book and make it even more funny. That being said, this one is still worth a look.

Hysterically funny
This is one of the funniest books I've ever read.I'm surprised that some of the other readers below didn't find it as humorous as later Dave Barry works, because I end up on the floor whenever I reread this.the sections on meetings, on resumes, on office attire--all brilliantly funny.I guess it helps to have been a disenchanted office employee at least once in your life.But if you've tried climbing the corporate ladder and have decided that there's no worse fate, this book is for you!

Like all of Dave Barry's books
...amusing, occasionally laugh out loud funny, but ultimately as memorable as a Debbie's Snack Cake. I'm a diehard Barry fan, and highly recommend Big Trouble. This one, though - buy it used, read and sell.

Mostly smiles rather than laughs
This is not the funniest book written by Dave Barry, although it is funny in spots. He lampoons the current business world, the absurdities and incongruities that are a daily part of the life of so many people. As is the case with the best satire, there is a great deal of truth in the exaggerated nonsense that Barry writes. Meetings do dull the mind to the point where you flap your lips with your fingers, the terminology used in corporate America is often the lowest quality double-speak and resumes and press releases are often works of fiction.
"Dilbert" by Scott Adams is considered the bible of corporate misfeasance; it always seems to hit the business world right in the privates. This book is not as good as the Dilbert comic strip; I smiled rather than laughed my way through it.

Corporate Comic Relief
I'm in the middle of reading the Enron story, "The Smartest Guys in the Room", and decided to take a brief intermission. And what should I find on the shelf but "Claw Your Way to the Top" by Dave Barry. It's one of the few Barry books that I've missed, and very appropriate while I'm in "Let's Try to Dissect the Corporation" mode. Except that maybe I shouldn't have sat down to read it right there in the Public Library, since it was work trying to stifle my laughter and not disturb other patrons.

Because "Claw Your Way to the Top" was written in 1986, before the rise and fall of Enron, there are no references to Kenneth Lay and his cronies, though Lee Iacocca's name does come up a few times. Similar to Scott Adams ("Dilbert"), Dave Barry's insights into corporate BS are right on the $$$ money, as truthful as they are hilarious. Of course when all the hilarity destroys peoples' lives and livelihoods, it's not so funny, but Barry's book doesn't cover that. Instead it's comic relief from the sobering and sordid truth of such travesties as Enron. Take a timeout andtreat yourself to some corporate humor, courtesy of Dave Barry. If you fail to find this book funny, you must be one of those psychopathic suits we should all fear... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Awesome!
This book was in excellent condition! It was shipped immediately. Overall, this was a very positive interaction.

Clear, concise, and covers most current knowledge..
A short, biceps-friendly "textbook" on reproduction that covers most of the current knowledge in the field. Very well organized, and beautifully set up. Look at those colorful pictures and diagrams. I enjoyreading this book very much.But, when we were preparing for ourendocrinology exam, we found something in table 3.4, p.39, on luteinizinghormone structure - it says that the beta-subunit of LH has twocarobohydrate chains (instead of one?). Hopefully it's just a small typo.Well, nobody's perfect. I still give it nine out of ten.

Course Book
I am currently using this book for a college course.The book is perfect for people first learning about mammal reproduction.The book is clearly organized into subjects.I recommend this book for people who want afoundation in reproduction. ... Read more